The present invention relates to card games, and more particularly to a system and method of playing a card game based upon poker with multiple wager options.
Most card games typically involve dealing each player an original hand of cards. This original hand is evaluated in accordance with game rules.
For an example, in a basic poker game, which is played with a standard 52-card deck, each player is dealt five cards. All five cards in each player's hand are evaluated as a single hand with the presence of various combinations of the cards such as pairs, three-of-a-kind, straight, etc. Determining which combinations prevail over other combinations is done by reference to a table containing a ranking of the combinations. Rankings in most tables are based on the odds of each combination occurring in the player's hand. Regardless of the number of cards in a player's hand, the values assigned to the cards, and the odds, the method of evaluating all five cards in a player's hand remain the same. In a modified poker card game as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,260 in which each player has more than five cards in hand. Each player builds at least two five-card hands that are placed on a playing surface enjoined by an intersecting card to define a pattern. This method has the disadvantage of requiring each player to be dealt at least nine cards at a time. Because all cards are placed on the playing surface in a pattern, a substantial amount of space in the playing surface is required for each player.
Other types of poker games also exist with various types of rules. The problem with most of these games is that they either require a great deal of concentration to follow the cards being handed out and they also have a limited possibility of placing wagers, namely wagering can only be done as the game progresses and the cards are handed out. The problem with these types of games is that novice or less experienced players do not feel comfortable playing the games because they do not necessarily know the rankings of the various combinations.
Presently, Black Jack, Baccarat, “Let it Ride” and Poker Paigow are among the more popular card games played at casinos. Each of these games, however, has various negative aspects which detract from the game. For example, in Black Jack any mistakes made by a player can change the outcome of the game. Furthermore, mistakes made by other players can affect the outcome of a player's hand. Furthermore, in conventional Black Jack, it is not possible to obtain a large return on a bet, such as, for example, a hundred or more times the bet. Baccarat has the disadvantage that the player is not permitted to touch the cards, which detracts from the player's interest. Furthermore, there is no decision making needed in the game once a bet is placed. Thus, Baccarat is very much a spectator game. Furthermore, Baccarat does not provide for extremely large returns on a wager. The down side of the “Let it Ride” game is that the odds for the player are not very attractive. Finally, Poker Paigow is a very slow moving game that involves a high number of pushes. This takes away from the excitement being sought by the player, which excitement results from active play and frequent opportunities to win.